Curated OER
Splendide Californie French Artists’ Impressionsof the Golden State, 1786-1900
There is a lot to learn from art. This teacher's guide provides you with extensive background information, activities, and a scripted commentary to accompany a slide show on French artists in California during the Gold Rush Period. The...
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Students participate in a class discussion about jazz music, compare improvisation with regular conversion, listen to various jazz musicians and compare and contrast their individual sounds.
Smithsonian Institution
Changing Gender Roles on the Home Front
Many historians discuss how gender roles changed because of World War II, but how did this come to be? An informative resource challenges scholars to do some digging and research the information for themselves. They research how...
Curated OER
Jean Hasbrouck House
Students research lifestyles from the 18th century. They examine artifacts from the Jean Hasbrouck House and associate them with the responsibilities and roles of the people who lived there. They make candles and consider the importance...
Curated OER
Mysteries of Egypt
Learners investigate the Egyptian civilization. For this cultural lesson, students watch the film Mysteries of Egypt and create a replica of an ancient Egyptian artifact.
Curated OER
Introduction to Archaeology
Students view a PowerPoint presentation called, Archaeological Terms then discuss the job of an archaeologist and new vocabulary. They view the teacher made "artifact grid" and photograph the grid from different angles. They work in...
Curated OER
Art: African Collar Necklace
Young scholars investigate the significance of African collar necklaces. To make replicas of the jewelry, they cut out the centers of paper plates leaving only the ribbed edges. To complete the necklaces, students apply tempera paints...
Curated OER
Investigating Sources-Artifacts
Students discuss artifacts. In this social science lesson, students realize that artifacts can help one in determining about the person the artifacts belonged to. Students will be put into small groups and will look at objects from a box...
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Contextual Clues
Learners observe and interpret images of artifacts in different contexts in order to recognize importance of leaving artifacts in original context to correctly understand their meaning, and observe what is surrounding object to interpret...
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Treasure Chest
Students explore Chicago in the fur-trading era. In this Chicago lesson, students discover what life what like during this time. Students read an historical fiction story about life in the fur-trade era. Students view replicas of...
Curated OER
To Protect and Preserve
Learners discuss the impact of war on the Iraqi National Museum and the importance of protecting artifacts of cultural heritage. They write letters to the Milwaukee Public Museum to show support for funding for the protection of the...
Curated OER
Protecting the Past: Give a Hoot, Don't Loot!
Students, in small groups, simulate an ancient civilization and the art they created, another group represents vandals, and the final group represents archaeologists who try to figure out what life was like for the "ancient peoples". ...
Curated OER
Treasure in the Trash
Learners decode archaeological artifacts in order to recreate an event, using discarded objects as a model for real-life artifacts. They apply this model to reconstructing historical or literary events from artifacts they create.
Curated OER
Of Amulets And Scrolls
Students come to an understanding of the time period covered in the first five books of the Bible by researching and recreating ancient artifacts. They recreate artifacts that represent the people, lifestyles, and culture of people...
Curated OER
How Do We Learn About the Past?
Students examine archaeological discoveries. In this learning about the past activity, students view a "Magic School Bus" video, discuss the role of an archeologist, and complete a graphic organizer. Students discuss a variety of...
PBS
Interviewing a Parent
Students complete a personal interview in order to discover important information about family history and interesting family artifacts.They analyze statements from the interview in order to prove the accuracy of these statements, as...
Curated OER
Mesoamerican Market Fair
Students organize an Mesoamerican market fair. In this early civilizations lesson plan, students celebrate the culmination of a unit on Mesoamerican cultures by planning, marketing, and hosting a market fair complete with food, games,...
Curated OER
Digging Into the Past
Students participate in an excavation simulation, and explore the ruins of Sardis. They ponder which clues scientists use to determine if artifacts found in the excavation are of Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, or Lydian origin.
Curated OER
Right About Now… and Then
Students discuss significant figures in music history and read an article about the Smithsonian's Hip-Hop exhibit. In groups, they develop and curate an exhibition of hip-hop music and history using artifacts that represent relevant...
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Remains of the Day
Students consider how archaeologists discovered and pieced together artifacts that indicate a Celtic presence in ancient Turkey. They research ancient civilizations and create archaeological digs containing items representative of these...
Curated OER
Bushy Run: A Decisive Battle of Pontiac's Rebellion
Students study the battle at Bushy Run. In this Pontiac's Rebellion lesson, students examine an 1765 map of the Bushy Run battle as well as letters and a modern topographic map of the area in order to simulate the event and research how...
Curated OER
Turmoil In 20th-Century Europe
Students study the Titanic disaster. In this research skills instructional activity, students watch "Turmoil in 20th Century Europe," and then discuss how experts have provided the public information about the disaster. Students research...
Curated OER
Objects of Memory
Learners consider the importance of individual artifacts in memorializing important historic events. They read and evaluate an article discussing the removal of the last steel beam from the World Trade Center site.
Curated OER
American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Students explore daily life and its influences in the late 1700s for two families in different colonies- Delaware and Massachusetts by becoming historical detectives. After gathering information from artifacts to make inferences about...